Born Free Leap'n Lions RV Club

I have a 2000 Born Free, 22 foot, that drips water from the ceiling air conditioner. It appears to happen during a heavy rain when parked not when traveling. It appears to be coming from within the air conditioner.

Has anyone dealt with a problem of this sort or have any suggestions as to a fix? Is this something I should take to a dealer?

During Hurricane Sandy a tree fell onto our RV (a 2006 24 RB). A small limb of this tree cracked the air conditioner shroud. When Camping World replaced the shroud, they also inspected the AC itself (no damage found), but they also replaced the seal between the AC and the roof. They recommended doing this periodically, as the seal can become brittle/stiff and no longer keep water out. Perhaps this is what has happened with your unit, as it is 12 or 13 years old.

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Joe and Lucinda
Tonto, Meadow and Shadow, the papillons
Shiloh and Morpho at Rainbow Bridge
2017 Spirit
Formerly 2006 24RB

There are 2, maybe 4, bolts that hold the unit on, and compress the gasket. They are accessible from inside the coach by removing the filters.

See if they are loose, and snug them down, don't over tighten.

My model only has 2, but a previous coach had 4, so depending on your make and model a/c you could have either. On a previous coach, I had the same leak as you describe and tightening the bolts stopped it. Now I make it a yearly routine job.

Good luck.

John

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John and Maureen O'Brien
and our 2 German Shepherds
2006 RSB - sold
2008 Jeep Wrangler X

In two previous coaches I've had a similar leak through the roof air conditioner. In each case a 1/4 turn of the two bolts tightened the unit down on the gasket to stop the leaks.

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Charles / Cape Canaveral, Florida 2013 23FL

Good info on this! Definitely a potentially simple fix!

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1993 Born Free President 24' Rear Bunk, 7.3L ATS Turbo Diesel, 10K Trans Cooler, EGT & Trans Temp Gauges, 77K "Elsa"

I recently found mine were quite loose and tightened them up.

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Mike & Jean
2005 26' RSS Diesel

What a timely post for me about tightening the air conditioner bolts, as we just had a heavy rain and afterwards when I checked inside the RV there was water under the AC. No moisture on the ceiling around it, but when I took out the filters, the foam in one of them that was on the uphill side was just slightly damp. Mine is a 2002. I will try tightening the bolts, but perhaps on its next visit to the RV place I should just have them replace the gasket. How much did that cost at Camping World?

I bought mine last fall, and finally got to use it for the first time this September when I took it to the OBX. We had a heavy rain there also, with no leak (thankfully!) I really loved everything about it. Only glitch was the Fantastic Fan vent was stuck shut and we had to get up on the roof to unstick it. Now it doesn't seem to close tightly down on the gasket - any ideas?

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Bonnie McDowell
2002 Born Free 24' RB on Ford E450/V10
My first RV - purchased September 2012

I purchased the fantastic fan roof shroud they recently put on the market. My 2003 24RB is in storage at the moment and I can't remember the model name. It is made just for the fantastic fan. Since installing it recently I drove thru heavy rain with the vent open. Not a single drop came in. I like the fact that I don't have to worry about closing the vent in case of rain or when driving down the road. If interested let me know and I will find the info.

Rob and Joan
2003 24RB

I scheduled an appointment to have the gasket under the AC replaced. It's 12 years old, and I'm a proactive sort of person.

I'll also have them look at the Fantastic Fan (the guy said to just make a "honey-do list"). I'm going to call Fantastic Fan before I take it in, because I found this in their FAQs:

The combination of Polycarbonate dome, compressed bleeding seal and sun, generates a chemical reaction resulting in a "stuck dome / lid". Historically, only a small percentage of seals extruded in the large lots we purchase bleed enough to cause this problem.

Our treating of all seals prior to packaging for 18 years with 303, a water based protectant, eliminated sticking but occasionally required additional treatment, generally, prior to storing coach. A few years ago seals treated with 303 began sticking and re-treatment didn’t correct the problem. Upon investigation, some component suppliers actually stated "EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) constraints in conjunction with dramatic cost increases and availability of essential chemicals lead to changes in the components they supplied without advanced notification”. Since then, we have used release agent (rubber manufacturer recommended), redesigned and re-tooled the seal profile, changed the adhesive we apply inside seal to hold it to the main base and finally, changed rubber suppliers!

FIX: Our current pre-treating of new vendor seals with “ASA Compliant Sealant emulsion” has proven extremely effective. Customers need only contact us toll free (800-521-0298) to receive new production seals and adhesive for the correction of the aforementioned issue.

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Bonnie McDowell
2002 Born Free 24' RB on Ford E450/V10
My first RV - purchased September 2012

I'm going to look this cover up! I LOVE Fantastic Fans- they are the best! I put a thermo controlled one in my Class B and it totally changed the comfort zone in there. Sold that, got the BF, and alas, it has the basic reversing fan, but no thermo control. How easily we get spoiled....

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1992 26' RSB
2008 Papillon named Emmett
1984 Honda GL1200 Standard
2008 Kawasaki Concours 14
2010 Kawasaki KLX250S